**Protecting RB's**

"The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy." -Sun Tzu (The Art of War)

A simple guide, to show how to best defend your RB's, through clumping close movement and unit locking!

Introduction: While this seems like second nature to me and other BfME2 players, apparently it is hidden knowledge to some players that I work with. I have come to the understanding that 90% of knowledge is stored inside the minds of more seasoned players, and will not come out until proper questions are asked. So I made this guide for the benefit of other members that have not come to the conclusion of how to properly lock units, and effectively block them from your RB's.

This quote by Sun Tzu remarks how I felt about here being strategical decisions, and then tactical. Tactical is not needed, if you supply strategic decisions that prevent you from relying on tactical! Here is the guide that gives you a strategic option, and tactical appliance.

Unit Locking:Almost everyone has experienced this. When a unit is engaged to an enemy unit he is locked in that direction. This means almost anywhere he is spread out is a no-no for your movement. You can retreat, but he will get some hits on you with flanking bonus.To lock simply make the enemy fight you, or block his path and attack.To prevent a lock simply don't engage the enemy, put yourself in a situation where you cannot be chased, attacked, and therefore locked.To stop a lock, try to go in the opposite way of the enemy, going in a diagonal direction may take longer, and drag the "corner" of you unit block through the enemy's units, increasing your casualties.

Keep in mind:Heroes cannot be locked.Units are not locked by heroes.Heroes cannot pass through enemy heroes, but is hardly considered a "lock" as they go right by.Siege isn't locked, but rather in danger when pushed through enemy units.Cavalry isn't locked by infantry, but is by other cavalry.

Now that I cleared that up, time for the actual guiding on protecting your RB's with this.I will use a good example, a enemy faster unit is going to attack your RB, and he well outruns your units!!!11!!!

Case is a Uruk warrior is rushing to destroy your farm. You are spamming SoGs from the nearby barracks, but he won't join in time to stop him. You have just built your second SoG and he is running to meet the enemy. Head on, you are beat by him, and he will outrun your men easily. But proximity is power!

Your SoG can easily catch up with the Uruk, without a speed buff of any sort. And if he gets close you can lock him! Some players either:

Chase, and lose racing the Uruks.Destroy the RB yourself and chase.Lose the RB because the SoG strayed too far from the RB.Follow the Uruk out, and die to give him experience, and then he takes your other SoG out in the same manner.

Here is how you outrun them, and the logistics behind it.

You can effectively run as fast as the Uruks, if they are far from the RB. This point is right where you can practically attack them with SoG, and therefore, unit lock. So, 1. If he tries to outrun you by getting closer, he can't close up without getting attacked, his unit gets locked, then reinforcements come to kill him.2. If he tries to run about the RB, he can't keep up with SoG and reinforcements come to assist the other in locking/flanking/destroying.

Simple logistics behind the speed of SoG's vs. Uruk's when going about this farm. It gets boring, but in case your looking for something to read:

The farther the radius, the longer the diameter.The radius is the distance from farm to unit, diameter is the circle that they run around.Uruks are farther, making their diameter longer, therefore they take a much longer path.

In simple terms, take a CD out and pretend the hole is the RB. Run your finger along the middle of the plastic, this is the SoG path. Then run it along the outside of the CD, this is the Uruk path. Quite a bit longer isn't it?

The trick is to semi clump, as the picture below shows a half-circle. Run about it in this close, and let him come to you. He will instinctively get closer, whether realizing it or not that the shorter path means closing up the circle. Then attack when he gets too close, or fend him off for more men.

The blue square is SoG, red is Uruk, and large blue grey square is your farm!

Here are the possibilities, four standard reactions and responses.

1. This is forcing him to run about, which is the second best thing, because you can infinitely do this and get reinforced.

2. He gets too close and gets unit locked! Attack him while he gets locked with aggressive, then look to defensive if he starts to hack at your men. If he continues at the RB, and some manage to attack it, move to aggressive and continue. Your soldiers wont be able to win 1v1 but they will hold out until the next unit comes out, if on Defensive.

3. He trys to go around the other way, and you must flank. If he hits this diagonal like so, you can just reach out and catch him to lock. Time it right though, or you lose the proximity advantage.

4. He is forced to run away to look for another target. The day is ours! But only for now- follow him around and keep short paths. Try the best holding action you have until reinforcements arrive to slaughter them!

I hope this guide has brought to light that even a humble SoG can beat the Uruk's in a game of speed (well, sort of). Pro's may not use this, but other members may, and it's a nice little reminder and in-depth look at real RB defense.